Coconut & Nut-crusted Barramundi with lime & chilli oil, served with Roast Vegetables

Whats on tonights menu?

I make sure I have fresh fish at least once to twice a week, so to help inspire everyone, I will be blogging different fish recipes for you all to learn to cook! This recipe is originally from my other blog - detoxober, a detox survival story. Although I'm not detoxing at the moment, this meal is still delish and fantastic for Winter!


The vegies.

I’ve roasted some sweet potato, beetroot, zucchini, garlic and onion.

How to roast: toss the sliced raw vegies in some olive oil, salt and pepper. Cook for a total of 45 minutes in an oven at 180C, with a 2^nd seasoning and added fresh rosemary after 25 minutes. Drizzle extra virgin olive oil on top before serving.

The barramundi.

The crust: Sounds more fancy than it actually is. We have a jar full of mixed raw nuts (almonds, cashews, brazil nuts, hazelnuts, pecans and walnuts). I grabbed 3 handfuls of nuts, with 2 handfuls of dessicated coconut, then whizzed up in a coffee grinder until fine.

The cooking: Rub some olive oil into the slices of barramundi, then coat in the nut mix.  Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, or until fish is cooked.

(I put the fish in the oven after 25 minutes of vegie cooking, so its done at the same time)

The dressing.

Olive oil... lime juice... chilli powder... pepper. Too easy. Very tasty.  These flavours are very much to taste and should be experimented in your own kitchen rather than following a recipe. You only need enough to drizzle on the fish, so don't overdo it. 

The result.

Ta da! a chef is born!

The verdict.

The fish was to die for. The use of the coconut in the crust added a greater dimension to the flavours. Normally I have a blob of butter with my roast vegies, so using the olive oil was a bit different, but gave the same enjoyment. I think this will be a regular new favourite.

Want another fish recipe? heres a link to my blog for pesto-crumbed salmon!

Whats on tonights menu? Rainbow Salad!

Whats on tonights menu?

It’s getting colder outside, so its good to have a nice hearty meal! Winter doesn’t mean you should give salads a rest either! You can make lighter salads for summer and use more root vegetables (carrots, pumpkin, potatoes, beetroot) in winter. This is one of my favourite winter salads, which I named rainbow salad because its o so pretty to look at! It is a tasty side dish for most meats. I usually have it with fish or chicken.

How to make...

1. Lightly fry up 1 sweet potato, which has been chopped into 1cm cubes. Add salt and pepper to taste.When the colour starts to change (it will go a deeper orange when cooked) and it starts to go a bit brown, add in 1 chopped red onion and 4 chopped broccolini stalks (broccoli also works well). Cook until onion is transluscent and broccolini is a brighter green. Take off the heat and allow it to cool.
2. Grate up 1 medium sized raw beetroot. Add to the bowl.
3. Chop up 4 cups of leafy greens. I use 2 cups of baby spinach, 1 cup of kale and 1 cup of rocket. Use whatever combination you want, but avoid iceberg lettuce! Add to the bowl.
4. Finely chop up 100-150g of sundried tomatoes. These add a fantastic flavour to the mix.  Add to the bowl.
5. Once cooled, add your sweet potato mix to the bowl, then add some cracked pepper and drizzle extra virgin olive oil. Toss just prior to serving (otherwise the beetroot tends to overtake the colour!)

Serves 4.

Another success which shows that experimentation in the kitchen can take your taste buds on an amazing journey. –Laura x